Money for high marks

Posted by helen at 7:58 AM

In a signature transposition of business practice into the education environment, the Klein administration at the DOE has installed a range of mechanisms to pay people -- teachers, principals, and students, at selected schools -- for performance. Today's Times story challenges the merits of a $2 million REACH incentive program (for REwarding ACHievement). Guess what? The results are a mixed bag.

Turns out more high-school students took Advanced Placement exams, which can earn college credit for high-scoring students. Fewer students passed overall, but a fraction more scored at the highest level, 5.

Promoters beg more time to show stronger results; critics say there are better ways to spend that kind of (private) money, despite similar programs' rising popularity in schools nationwide. And you can bet that man-about-town Joel Klein will face sharp questions on the program in his three public appearances today, at a REACH briefing, an NAACP event in Brooklyn and a Teach for America welcome-teachers evening program. But a quote at the end of the story caught our eye: Kati Haycock, director of the DC-based Education Trust, says that "rich kids get paid for high grades all the time and for high test scores by their parents."

Do you pay your kids for good grades? Do you reward effort (trying hard) or outcomes (the grade itself)? And what's the line between motivation and bribe -- between incentive and payoff? We don't think parents have deep pockets for report-card shakedowns, but we could be wrong...

Weekly news round-up: Arabic classes, laxative cakes and Klein's sweet dreams

Posted by Lindsey at 1:39 PM

Too busy worrying if you still have a job, your fifth grader got into middle school or the commute to Manhattan for a G&T program is plausible to read the paper? Don’t worry - we’ve flipped through the pages for you. Welcome to the first installment of our education and school news round-up. Look for it every Friday!

This week, while Margaret Spellings, Chancellor Klein and Mayor Bloomberg were in Disney World speaking at Jeb Bush’s national education reform summit, a paroled felon ran from the cops ran straight into a Brooklyn elementary school, brandishing his loaded handgun. Luckily, everyone at PS 108 was okay, but some older Brooklyn students found themselves behind bars after serving a laxative laced cake that left two teachers hospitalized.

While in the Magic Kingdom, Chancellor Klein wished upon a star for the ability to certify teachers and principals without a university. The College Board might wish that the new SAT had proven to be a better indicator of college success; they sure tried to spin their study results that way. At least veterans had one dream come true when Congress greatly expanded their educational grants and permitted the transfer of aid to family members.

In Albany, Gov. Paterson has successfully pushed through legislation that will push sex offenders out of the classroom, but he has been less successful in convincing fellow lawmakers to cap local school property taxes, although a poll shows that 74 percent of voters support the cap.

But in "America's first suburb," the property tax debate has been overshadowed. Town officials in Levittown complain of psychological damage to 8^th graders, who came across their town name as an answer choice on the state social studies exam and were so upset to see their community associated with Hoovervilles and tenements that they were unable to complete their tests. A high school in Massachusetts, however, has a real problem. Some students supposedly made a pact to become pregnant, and now 17 girls under 17 years-old are expecting.

Wendy Kopp and Richard Barth, the Upper West Side-based education power-couple who is devoted to closing the achievement gap through Teach for America and the KIPP charter school network, might wonder why European countries are looking to the US schools as a model of desegregation. Local columnists, meanwhile, muse on Obama’s father’s day speech, and the effect of home life on school achievement.

All New York public school students might soon learn more about how to be nice to each other, and a few New York private school students will study Arabic next year. Language skills, however, continue to bar many immigrants from accessing the city’s childcare offerings.

And, of course, the topics covered in our blog were also covered in the papers: flaws in the new G&T admissions policy, which left the program even less diverse than in years past; the Robin Hood effect of No Child Left Behind, which has potentially created a boost in low-performing students scores while stagnating high performing students’ academic growth; the middle school placement mess; and the interview with Chancellor Klein, which focuses on Brooklyn schools but is illuminating in general.

Thoughts? Reactions? Opinions?

UPDATE (6/25/08): The story about the teen pregnancy pact has gotten a lot of follow-up ink. Was it a pact or not? Regardless, there are still 17 pregnant teenagers in one high school, several of whom have confirmed that their pregnancy was intentional.

Teach for America draws 40 percent more possibly-in-over-their-heads applicants

Posted by Philissa at 11:53 AM

If you don't believe already that the economy is tanking, here's proof: the number of college students applying to join Teach for America increased by 37 percent this year. Nearly 25,000 graduating seniors applied for 3,700 spots, making TFA more selective than all but the most elite colleges — though not as selective as some of New York City's most highly coveted high schools. Let's hope the kids who didn't make the cut — based on grades, essays, and an interview — applied to graduate school as a backup plan. About 500 of those TFA has accepted will make their way to one of the city's classrooms by this fall, where they will fill high-need positions teaching math, science, and special education, among other subjects.

Teach for America grad new DC schools chief

Posted by Philissa at 8:28 AM

Last week, when Washington, D.C., named Michelle Rhee, a Teach for America alum who was running the New Teacher Project, its new schools superintendent, some pointed to a TFA "insurgency" in public education. Teach for America began placing graduates of top universities in hard-to-fill teaching positions in 1990, and the oldest of its 12,000 alums are now nearing age 40. The ones who have stuck in education have almost two decades of experience and are poised to make the leap from classrooms to leadership positions.

Critics of Teach for America say the program's structure — requiring its participants to teach in a high-need classroom for two years — does little to address the national problem of teacher retention, and they complain that the young teachers are ill prepared for the most challenging classrooms. These are legitimate critiques. Still, I've visited schools in the city where the infusion of youthful energy and enthusiasm have benefited the entire school. I've also met several young principals of new schools who launched their careers in education through Teach for America; according to the organization, more than 80 administrators in New York got their start in TFA.

Rhee's position as a superintendent marks a watershed moment for Teach for America, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. As much as it has been positioned as outside the mainstream, TFA actually promotes only what we all know works to improve schools: dedication, teacher quality, and a healthy dose of innovation. The ascendancy of TFA grads in educational leadership — whether in traditional bureaucracies or in non-profit reform organizations like KIPP, which one could argue are more influential right now — reflects less an "insurgency" than the trickle-up effect of getting smart young people hooked on teaching and reforming schools. There's little for critics to fault in that.